Practices of Sufism

Sufism is an ancient tradition of spiritual development. It is

widespread at present.
Sufism originated inside Islam. Some Sufi teachers-sheikhs say,
however, that Sufism cannot be limited to a particular religion,
historical period, society, or language. They call Sufism the pure
essence of all religions and believe that Sufism existed always: it
is only its outer appearance that changes according to the
contemporary cultural-historical environment.
The Sufis, who often call themselves people of true
beingness, from age to age bring to the world together with their
teachings their art, which reflects their perception of the beautiful.
The Sufi symbolism, images, and themes are found in a significant
part of the oriental folklore, literature, especially poetry. Such is
almost all Persian-Iranian classic poetry, which is recognized
throughout the world. Widely known are the names of Sufi poets:
Sanai, Rumi, Hafiz, Jami, Nezami. One can say the same, though to
a smaller degree, about the Arab and Turkic literature, poetry,
folklore.
What is Sufism?
The root Sufi means pure. It corresponds to the essence of the
Sufi teachings and spiritual appearance of its best representatives.
The true masters of Sufism, the true Sufis * are indeed pure from the
dogmatism and fanaticism, are free from confessional and national
prejudices. A strong aspiration to the ethical purity and
impeccability, peculiar to the Sufis, contributed to their receiving
another name in the Arab world Knights of Purity (Sahiba-i-Safa)
[2].
Thanks to large pliancy and openness to outer influence, Sufism
at present is not a uniform system. Its different trends, directions,
schools, groups differ from one another by methodological aspects
they emphasize, by practical methods they prefer. Among Sufis,
there are well-known orders with ancient traditions and also 12
main (parental) brotherhoods. In addition, there are many other

structures in Sufism: smaller brotherhoods, communities, centers,

circles.
Let us talk about the fundamentals of the Sufi teachings:
Sufism holds a belief that the universe consists of 7 planes
of existence [2]. This concerns multidimensionality of space.
The subtlest dimension, which the Sufis call Zat, is the Abode
of God in the aspect of the Creator. The Creator and the whole
diversity of His Creation (Sifat, in Sufi terms) compose the
Absolute. The Creator pervades the entire Creation with His Love.
The multidimensional human organism, which is similar in its
structure to the multidimensional structure of the Absolute, can
reveal in itself more subtle forms of beingness. One realizes this by
cognizing and perfecting oneself.
Thus only by knowing his true essence man can achieve the
direct perception of God and union with Him. This is expressed
very laconically in the hadith of Sunna* which reads: He who
cognizes himself cognizes God. On the final stages of such
cognition, the individual human consciousness merges with the
Divine Consciousness. This final goal is described in the Sufi
tradition as the highest state of consciousness Baqi bi-Allah
(Eternity in God). Hindu and Buddhist synonyms of this term are
Kaivalya, Mahanirvana, Moksha.
The foundation of Sufism is love (mahabba, hubb). The Sufis
even say of their teachings as of hymn to the Divine Love and
call it tassawuri love-vision. Love is considered in Sufism as the
power which strengthens ones feeling of being contained in God.
This process results in understanding that in the world there is
nothing but God, Who is the Lover and the Beloved at the same
time.
One of the tenets of Sufism is Ishq Allah Mabud Allah (God is
Lover and the Beloved).
A truly loving Sufi gradually submerges, sinks, and becomes
dissolved in the Creator in his or her Beloved.
The principle of regarding God as the Beloved originated from
the Sufi direct experience. The Sufis describe this in the following
way. When man traverses a certain part of the Path of Love, God
begins to help him more actively by drawing him to His Abode. And
then man begins to feel more intensely Gods Divine Love.
Let us see how such love, leading man to God, develops
according to the views of Jalaluddin Rumi [10].

This happens:
1) through the development of the emotional, cordial love for all
the beautiful and harmonious in the world;
2) through active, sacrificial love-service to people;
3) and then through extending this love to all manifestations
of the world without discriminating between them; the Sufis say: If
you make a distinction between things originating from God you
are not man of spiritual Path. If you think that a diamond can
ennoble you and a stone lowers you, then God is not with you [5];
4) such developed love for all elements of the Creation is
redirected then to the Creator and man begins to see that,
according to Rumi, the Beloved is present in everything [4,10].
Obviously, this concept of love is identical to the one described
in the Bhagavad Gita and the New Testament: it has the same
milestones and accents. The true love is regarded in Sufism in the
same way as in the best spiritual schools of Hinduism, Buddhism,
Christianity as the only power capable of bringing man to God.
Quite often Sufi sheikhs live in the world being occupied with
common worldly activity. They can operate a shop, workshop,
smithy, can compose music, write books, etc. The Sufis believe that
one does not need seclusion to go to God. They say that the
worldly activity by itself does not separate you from God if you are
not attached to its fruits and if you remember about Him. Therefore
on all steps of the spiritual ascent, man may be involved into social
life. Moreover according to Sufism, it is social life that provides one
with the possibilities for perfecting oneself. If every life situation is
considered as educational, then one can live side by side with the
most awful and despising people. One can be subjected to the
most coarse influence and do not suffer from it; on the contrary,
one can be joyful and calm, and perfect oneself through these
social contacts given by God.
As for the students-murids, Sufi sheikhs say that not anyone
wanting to become a Sufi can become it, not everyone can
comprehend the Sufi teachings. The Sufis say that one cannot be
taught anything: man can be only shown the way, but he has to
walk it himself. Therefore, if an aspirant is not capable of using the
teachings for his or her spiritual development, the education is
meaningless: the teachings will pass through such a student as
water passes through sand.
Aspirants capability of comprehending the teachings is

determined by the sheikh. For this purpose sheikhs often use

provocative methods. They put aspirants into various situations,
involve them into innocent talks with the purpose of determining
their level of development. If aspirants look promising, then sheikh
watching them for some time, determine their individual features
and to what extent they can comprehend the teachings. And then,
according to this, every murid is given certain tasks for the whole
period of learning and corresponding parts of the teachings.
After determining specific features of the students
development, the sheik can send him or her to other orders,
brotherhoods, educational centers. The neophyte moves from
sheikh to sheikh and gradually comprehends and masters the
program. After a long and all-round learning, the murid returns to
his or her first sheikh. And then the sheik gives the murid final
polishing and so-called ijaza (permission) to continue the sheiks
tradition and preach the teachings.
The sphere of the Sufi teachings includes both esoteric and
exoteric sides. That is, murids develop not only ethically,
intellectually, psycho-energetically: they also master the methods,
the secrets of their sheikhs craft or art. Later this helps them in life.

***
The process of Sufi teaching can be subdivided into several
stages.
The initial stage of the spiritual practice sharia (law)
concerns strict obedience to all religious precepts. Initial learning
of sharia is an obligatory condition for entering on the path of
spiritual development.
The esoteric learning begins on the next stage tariqa (path,
way). Mastering the tariqa is related to mastering a series of stepsmaqams.
In the ethical aspect, maqams imply fundamental reassess of
ones values. They imply finding ones own vices and repentance
(tauba), abstaining from the forbidden (zuhd), strict distinction
between the allowed and non-allowed (wara), refusal of nonspiritual attachments and desires (faqr). Murids learn patience
(sabr), swallowing something bitter without showing distaste.
Constant remembrance about death, about its inevitability leads
murids to reassessing many things. In particular, murids develop a
careful attitude to the time which they have on the Earth.
Reflections on death are an efficient means of fighting unwanted

attachments and habits. Al-Ghazali said: If you like something of

the world and an attachment is born in you recall about death
[6].
On the stage of tariqa, one performs intense intellectual work.
Sheiks constantly suggest to their students new themes for
reflection, talk with them about the fundamentals of the teachings.
Murids become acquainted with various literary sources, which
present many parables, educational stories, etc.
As the murid goes through all steps of this stage, he or she
develops a strong desire to attain the unity with the Creator and
enters the state of rida. The Sufis define rida as unruffled attitude
toward ones predestination, that is the state of serenity, calm in
respect to what is happening.
They who successfully passed maqams of tariqa receive the
possibility to go further the path of marefat meditative cognition
of God. On this stage, further ethical polishing of the student
takes place; students love (in its different aspects), wisdom, and
power are perfected. The Sufi who traversed this stage really
cognizes the multidimensionality of space, illusiveness of the
values of material life, receives living experience of communion
with God. As arif (he who has cognized) such a person receives
initiation into sheikhs.
Some arifs managed to reach the forth stage haqiqat (haqq
means truth), on which one finally masters the true beingness. It
brings the arif to the full mergence of the individual consciousness
with the Goal of his or her aspirations with the Creator.
Spiritual work on these stages corresponds to the one
performed on the stages of buddhi yoga.

***
An integral part of the spiritual work on all stages of murids
spiritual ascent is psycho-energetic practice, which significantly
accelerates the processes of ethical and intellectual selfdevelopment. Let us talk in more detail about psycho-energetic
methods of tariqa.
The psycho-energetic teaching in Sufism is performed so that all
students receive special tasks from the sheikh, according to their
individual peculiarities and capability of comprehending. At the
same time, the sheik gives psycho-energetic training for groups of
students.
On the initial stages of psycho-energetic practice, the sheik

suggests to murids many different exercises for development of

the ability of concentration, for stopping the flow of thoughts and
achieving the mental pause; they also work with images. After
that, various psycho-physical exercises are used: rhythmic
movements to music, Sufi whirling, etc.
The use of the whole spectrum of these means creates a
remarkable purifying effect, develops the energy structures of the
organism (anahata, in particular). Some of these exercises cause
subtle attunement of the body, mind, and consciousness, and
bring the participants to the ecstatic state which the Sufis call hal.
There are different kinds of hal. Most often the student gains the
following kinds of this state: kurb feeling of the nearness of God,
mahabba felling of the fervent love for God, khauf deep
remorse, shauq passionate longing for God, etc.
Let us consider some of such practices.
Dances of dervishes, for example, require absolute relaxation of
the body and achievement of the full mental pause. Against such
background of relaxation and meditative attunement of the
consciousness to the Creator, harmonious spontaneous
movements of the body occur. They are not planned; they do not
originate from the mind, but as if occur spontaneously, Usually, the
dances of dervishes are performed with use of meditative music or
meditative singing. This ensures proper attunement of all dancers
and brings all ready participants to the state of hal.
Another interesting technique is Sufi whirling. It allows one, in
particular, to move the consciousness out from the head chakras,
what facilitates entering the state of hal. There are various
modifications of this technique. Whirling can be performed to
music or without it, with use of mantras, with concentration in
certain energy structures of the organism. In the latter case,
whirling contributes to the development of the chakras. The general
rules of performing this exercise are the following:
1) one can start whirling not sooner than three hours after meal;
2) whirling is performed to any convenient side, against the
background of full relaxation of the body;
3) the eyes are opened and fixed on one of the raised hands or
not fixed on anything at all;
4) whirling is performed in individual rhythm, with as smooth
beginning and end of the exercise as possible;
5) in case of falling during whirling, one has to turn on the

stomach and relax;

6) after performing the exercise, it is necessary to relax;
7) also one needs to be fully confident in the technique, fully
open when performing the exercise. The duration of the exercise
is individual and can vary from several minutes to several hours.
On the mature stages of tariqa, one performs intensive work
on developing, perfecting the energy structures of the organism. In
Hindu terms, this concerns, in particular, the chakras and nadi
(meridians). In this work, a special emphasis is put on developing
the anahata the chakra responsible for producing the emotions
of cordial love.
One of the techniques of this kind is the meditation of laugh. Its
participants lay on the back and completely relax. After meditative
attunement, they place one hand on the region of anahata, and
another hand on the region of muladhara, to activate these
chakras. Then they begin to move through the organism waves of
soft light-laugh (from muladhara to the head chakras). The
meditation of laugh creates a purifying effect and contributes to the
development of the chakras, the middle meridian, if it is performed
on the due level of subtlety*.
Another technique used in Sufism is zikr. There are many
variations, modifications of zikr according to the traditions of the
brotherhood or order, the sheiks mastery. Zikr is performed in the
following way:
All participants stand or sit in a circle. The sheik gives
meditative attunement and then, by his instruction, the participants
begin to perform a series of consecutive exercises. These
exercises are rhythmic movements performed in ever-increasing
tempo (for example, bows, turns, sways of the body). With
movements, the participants chant praying formulas.
In some orders, they attach a great importance to music, to
singing in meditation classes. They believe that music the food
of the soul (ghiza-i-ruh) is one of the very powerful means
contributing to spiritual progress. They widely use music that
makes the body move spontaneously (tarab), facilitates entering
deep meditative states (saut), etc. In some orders and
brotherhoods, they have everyday listening to music, collective
classes with singing of mystic verses (sama), ecstatic dances to
music, etc.
The effectiveness of these techniques consists, in particular, in

the fact that meditations are performed not only in motionless

positions of the body but also against the background of
movements.
Thanks to the complex use of different methods, one activates
several centers of the organism: emotional, moving, intellectual
ones*. Coordinated, harmonious work of these centers makes
possible a quick change in the students psychoenergetic state.
Apart from ordinary methods, in Sufism there are accelerated
techniques of spiritual development. By means of these secret
techniques, murids can make very fast advancement. These
techniques are given only to those who possess very high psychoenergetic readiness.
The Sufi meditation tradition is very rich and multifarious. It
accumulated vast experience of work with the body, mind, and
consciousness. The Sufis developed the ways of cognizing Wajd
(Samadhi, in Hindu terms), the techniques for accomplishing
correct crystallization of consciousness in the higher spatial
dimensions, and methods for mastering Fana-fi-Allah (Nirvana in
the Creator).
In Sufism there are many original things. However, one can see
its remarkable similarity to the spiritual traditions of other best
religious schools and directions the similarity of goals, the ways
of their realization, and even of the methods. This indicates an
important thing: that Sufism, Hesychasm, Taoism, Buddhist
mysticism, classic Hindu yoga, the way of the Mexican school of
Juan Matus, and some other directions are based on the same laws
of spiritual development. It is only the realization of these laws that
can be different in different cultural and historical conditions. And
always there are people who independent of their spiritual
traditions can successfully walk the Sufi path.

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Raja Yoga and Buddhi Yoga. (Ed. V.V.Antonov), Moscow, 1992.
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Attar, Farid, Ud-Din. The Conference of the Birds.
Routledge Kegan Paul, L., 1961.

6.
Al-Ghazali The Revival of Religious Sciences. Sufi
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Lefort R. The Teachers of Gurdjieff. L., 1966.
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